It wouldn't be summer without sunflowers.

25 years ago today we arrived in France to live.

 With my two Labrador dogs in the back of the car

with loads of boxes & bags pushed in to make them safe.

I can still remember driving through northern France

 seeing fields of yellow for miles & miles.

Sunflowers.

It was such a feeling of what summers were going to be like. 

I hoped they would be growing in the fields near where we were going to be living.

and they were.

This is what I see whilst driving to our nearest Boulangerie

or on my way to the hairdressers.

Certainly a joy to see.

I still smile & pinch myself seeing such beauty.

To see so many flowers turning their heads in the same direction facing the sun,

 makes me think of a crowd of sunbathers lying on the beach getting a tan.

Soon they will be harvested and sent to make Sunflower oil. 

In the meantime I'll savour the sunny days.

Enjoy your summer whether you are at home or away on holiday.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Summer is always a busy time.

As always Summertime keeps us busy.

The garden and our summer cottage keeps Mr France and I occupied.

After my surgery last year the garden suffered considerably.

A few weeks ago we had a visit from the person in charge of the committee

for 'Le Concours des Fleurs'/ The Floral competition.
 persuading us to enter le concour  again.

Apparently last year we had been greatly missed by the judges.
Although we always have an abundance of flowers
 in pots and hanging baskets, we agreed to enter the competition again.



I love this corner, as I can change the pots when they look a bit sad
or add some of my collected items found at the brocante  sale.
Which Mr France describes as junk !

So after returning from our short 5 day visit to the U.K.
visiting friends and family, we were frantically putting
together baskets and troughs, to adorn the terrace and windowsills,
which is the category we are entered in.

Here's a few we have done and now hanging from the terrace.

These geraniums I managed to over winter from last summer.
and just added a few other plants to fill in the gaps.

Window troughs or boxes as they are known as in England
are always a pretty way to brighten up the front of the cottage.

Our new roses planted in the Spring are flowering nicely.
If you'd like to wander around my garden with me,
come back soon and enjoy seeing what's growing
 where I live in rural France.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

An Easter Posy for afternoon tea time

Sit and enjoy your afternoon tea time posy

sent to you from France.

 A pretty posy from my garden

 in a pretty cup.

 to wish you Happy Easter 

Just a greeting from my home in France to your home

where ever you might be.

I hope my posy helped to brighten up your day.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Painted Pansies & Primulas.

At this time of the year Primulas and Pansies can be seen in all
the garden centers. Their colourful heads shouting out
 to be bought and planted to give some instant colour
Whether you choose vibrant colours.
 


or these pastel pinks.

When I first learnt how to paint in watercolour in 2008
I was terrified learning the technique of wet on wet, especially for flowers.
I learnt how to let the paint run along the paper I had just wet,
not realizing that the paint would only run where the paper was wet.
After a few mishaps, I loved what I was able to do, knowing I was in control.

 I continued my painting at home using books I'd bought and one
I borrowed from a friend written by a French artist Maryse de May.

One of her pansy paintings from her book.

She paints in a style I particularly like and fortunately in her book there are lots
of diagrams so I am able to follow the technique and adapt it to my style.

I have seen some of her paintings at an Aquarelle Exhibition which is
 held every year in a small town not far from where I live.
St Yriex Aquarelle Exhibition.
 Exhibitors  come from all over the world.
I have the date set in my agenda, as the previous two years
I arrived on the last day about half an hour before it closed

I used the Maryse de May  'L’aventure avec les fleurs ' book as reference
 and practiced a lot that winter.



I remember only too well, as we had a long cold winter
 so that was when I mastered the way of painting wet on wet.

 At that time, I gave everything I painted to family.Then when I got a bit
 more confident a gave them to friends.This weekend while visiting my daughter
 I asked if she still had the painting of the pansies I had given her.
Well here it is for you to see. (I didn't remember it being this good)
I feel quite proud of myself.



Which has given me the push I needed to get back into painting
instead of just dabbling .

So now my paints and favourite paper are out

 ready and waiting for ME.

I think these Primulas would make make nice painted cards.

These  are still in their plastic pots
but look a lot nicer in these decorative metal holders on a tray
which I've put on the wide window ledge, waiting
 to be planted in the garden when the ground warms up.

I have promised myself and Mr France I will do more painting.

 I'll be showing more frequently 

So if you like to see my sketches / paintings please come back soon.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Grow Your Blog

Hello to my regular followers
and
If this is the first time you have visited my blog

Welcome.

Open the gate and step inside.

It's that time of the year again when Vicki who hosts  Grow Your Blog

does such a wonderful job doing exactly what it says.

If you are here to grow your blog  I hope you'll enjoy what you see.

and have fun checking out many of the other blogs taking part..

This is my second time of joining.Grow your blog.
If you would like to find out more about me take a look here
from when I joined the 2014 Grow your Blog Party.

I live in rural France so I show a lot of photos I take of interesting buildings
and also the beautiful countryside near where I live.

We often walk along this pathway, it used to be the old railway line.
There are lots of walking groups I could join, but I prefer to walk with my husband,
who I affectionately refer to as Mr France, he appears from time to time in my posts.

I spend lots of time watching the birds that come to feed
from the many bird feeders in our garden.

My favourite walk, winter or summer is only 15 mins..from my home.

Maybe you are like me and dabble in watercolour painting.

I try to remember ( I must admit I often forget ) to take my pocket camera
with me on my walks. Then later I can paint  the wild flowers I see.

I'm not an artist but I do enjoy watercolour sketching.

One of my early sketches in a journal with brown paper,

 it's easier for sketching than to paint on,

I share lots of pictures of my garden throughout the different seasons.

I love my garden, but don't make myself a slave to it.

It's certainly not a sculptured garden all neat and tidy

.I leave a lot of the wild flowers to grow, like these wild Foxgloves 

which adds colour and fills in a bare space.

During the summer months I like to have plenty of hanging baskets around our home
 and the holiday cottage. Mainly I use the simple Pelargonium which grow well here in France.
They don't need to be watered everyday and withstands the heat. 

As I live in France it wouldn't seem right if I didn't show the vines,
which are not too far from my home.
We plan to take more short trips away this year. now that I am back in good health.
We are planning be visit Denmark again
and if we can fit it in, a trip back to England to catch up with family and old friends.
so there will be lots of photos taken for you to see.

I took this photo last October on one of our short trips away.

During the summer months we have fields and fields of sunflowers around where we live,

so I couldn't resist showing this lonely sunflower growing on the edge of the road.

There will be a Give Away gift as a thank you
The give away will be open to everyone who leaves a comment on this post. 

The winner will be announced on the 15th February.

So look out for your name it might be you.

I'm looking forward to seeing lots of new blogs.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my Grow your blog post.
Thank you Vicki and all those who volunteered  to help.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian

Sunlit-Sunday from rural France.

This is my 1st time on Sunlit Sunday.

I couldn't have chosen a more un-sunny day.

I don't think we'll be sitting here for coffee this morning.

A few mins. before I took this photo, the sun was shining through the window
onto this orange plant. That's photography for you, 

patience is needed and that's something I admit I don't have !

Sunday in our house is when the ornamental Orange tree gets it's weekly feed. 

Mr France looks after this and has taken it outside for a little sun.

 Yes I did say sun, as since I started this post the sun has come out again.

Just thought I'd check on the Romarin / Rosemary.

Since my trip to Denmark, I haven't looked at the garden very much as we've had so much rain.

The sun was shining on it ,so that's good as it needs some warmth.

The sun has now crept around to the front of the house.

and it's now beginning to show a lot more blue.

I then went to the front of the house to take a photo of my new view. During the past few months someone has been cutting down a lot a trees. We are surrounded by trees and this should have been done many years ago. I'll be watching to see what starts to grow now the ground is open to the sun . 

Notice the sun has gone again

That's how my Sunlit Sunday has been this morning

If I understand there are some rules I must follow. I'm sure they can be broken a bit,
So I hope if I do show a few photos from another day it will be allowed.
This being my first time to join this link ALL my photos have been taken this morning.
Maybe it's made me have a little more patience than usual .
That's a good lesson for me.
Also it's the first time I've ever joined in anything which requires links.
If you read my blog you will know I'm not very technical when it involves
computer know how. I did panic a bit after I'd gone to all this effort
and I couldn't find my instructions on how to link.
Yes, I need to follow step by step instructions each time I want to show a link.
My blogging friend Daphne from Ivy Phyllis and Me. kindly sent them to me.
Daphne you are always in my thoughts and especially now when I'm linking..

In the sunlit window, is my new Orchid house plant. 

It was given to me by the Commune Floral Committee

 My last photo showing my new view taken through the kitchen window .

I've enjoyed participating in this and I hope you have too
 hope I'll have the time to join in every Sunday

Today I'm linking with Sunlit Sunday.

à bientôt

Barbara Lilian